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Arsenal v Chelsea Betting Tips
The 2017/18 English football season gets underway this weekend as the Football League all begin their 46 game schedules, while two Premier League teams kick off their seasons early. Arsenal and Chelsea have already met once this preseason, along with their huge FA Cup final encounter at Wembley which ended both clubs previous campaigns. This time, they will be playing for silverware once more in the form of the FA Community Shield.
Last year’s Community Shield is scarcely memorable right now unless you are a Manchester United fan. In Jose Mourinho’s first competitive game as United boss, the Reds defeated Claudio Ranieri’s Premier League winners Leicester City 2-1, courtesy of a late Zlatan Ibrahimovic strike.
Usually, the Community Shield gives fans a slight indication on what to expect in the coming months. Previous league champions Leicester and Chelsea both lost in 2016 and 2015 and went on to have awful seasons, while Manchester City took a 3-0 beatdown at the hands of Arsenal in 2014 before a very limp title defence in their league campaign.
This year, FA Cup winners Arsenal will be bidding to win their third Community Shield in four years as they face Antonio Conte’s Chelsea. When they met in preseason, Conte’s side ran riot in a 3-0 thrashing, showcasing their counterattacking ability against a second rate Arsenal side.
Expect to see Arsenal line up in their 3-4-3 formation on Sunday, with new boy Alexandre Lacazette leading the forward line. Sead Kolasinac is also likely to start on the left side of the midfield four, though question marks remain over Alexis Samchez’s availability. Sanchez has been consistently linked with a move away, including early links to Chelsea, but his future has not yet resolved.
Chelsea, on the other hand, have changed personnel but haven’t made wholesale changes to the squad. Tiemoue Bakayoko has joined in a £40m deal from Monaco and will likely partner his compatriot N’Golo Kante in the centre of the park with Nemanja Matic gone, Alvaro Morata has arrived from Real Madrid and is expected to replace Diego Costa, while Antonio Rudiger arrives to offer some competition to a consistent back three, replacing Nathan Ake.
Preseason results haven’t given us much to go off, but Chelsea’s front three of Willian, Michy Batshuayi and Pedro looked likely against Arsenal. Meanwhile, Arsenal have been a tricky proposition to judge over the break. Victory over Bayern Munich on penalties gave fans a bit of belief, while the 5-2 crushing of Benfica looked optimistic. Alternatively, a loss to Sevilla on their own turf in the Emirates Cup may not have gave Gunners fans much confidence as the season fast approaches.
Eden Hazard will miss the beginning of the signing for Chelsea, including this fixture, while it’s uncertain whether Arsenal will field Alexis Sanchez or not. Laurent Koscielny is eligible to play in this fixture, despite a two game domestic ban continuing from last season. Victor Moses will also be eligible despite his red card at Wembley against Arsenal last summer.
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Chelsea have already disposed of Arsenal once this summer and, although the stakes are higher, should be able to do the same again at Wembley. Chelsea have conceded in their last two preseason games against Bayern and Inter, while Arsenal let goals in five times out of six preseason fixtures, so both teams to score and Chelsea to win (available at William Hill) looks a good choice.
